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There are those restaurants that you know about because they are either highly visible from the street and/or highly hyped by advertisements and social media. Hence, there are no surprises when someone mentions them by name during a conversation. But there are some restaurants out there that barely anyone knows about unless you live nearby. Embarrassingly enough, I've lived near The Hop & Vine Taphouse (have you heard about it???) for around 7 years and as much as I knew about it, I never dared to walk in. Honestly, from the outside, it doesn't even look like a restaurant. It took an actual invite to their Man vs. Meat Father's Day Long Table Dinner to get me into the place.
Much like the one I had at The Pumphouse, there would be 5 courses with accompanying craft beer pairings. For $40.00 plus taxes and tip, you can't get much of a better deal than that. We started with the Chopped Salad consisting of grilled sweet & spicy pork loin served on chopped salad, crispy wonton strips and ginger dressing. The flavours were nice with a sweet gingery thing going on, yet it wasn't that spicy. As for the pork, it was pretty dry. This was paired with Two Beers Evolutionary IPA which I found to be quite smooth going down. Next up was the Italian Involtini which was a free-run chicken breast stuffed with mozzarella & wrapped with prosciutto atop a Parmesan risotto. I found the chicken to be really dry even with the cheese. The prosciutto was good though with a nice chew and saltiness. As for the risotto, it was overdone and quite salty. However, the pop of the sweet peas was nice. This was paired with an Odin Freya's Gold Kolsch Style Ale which had a lemony bite.
Onto the 3rd course, we had the Sticky Asian Baby Back Ribs glazed with an Asian BBQ sauce atop Asian slaw. Unlike the previous 2 proteins, this one was done right with moist ribs which still had a wonderful chew. The BBQ sauce was a bit sweet, spicy and just a touch of savouriness. The slaw was crunchy with a noticeable sesame oil hit, but could've used more acidity. This was paired with Two Beers Forester IPA which was my personal favourite as it just had "hit-me-in-the-face" initial taste. Doing it's best Montreal smoked meat impersonation, the Braised Smoky Beef Brisket with cabbage, onions and mustard, was fantastic. It was buttery soft while maintaining a bouncy bite. Eaten with the sweet cabbage, onions and a touch of mustard, it was a party in my mouth. This was paired with an Odin's Gift Ruby Ale. I found it to be full-bodied with some fruity notes.
Finally, for dessert, we had a Chocolate Cupcake with maple bacon frosting. For a taphouse, I gotta give them props for making one moist cupcake. It wasn't particularly chocolaty (despite the colour) while being only semi-sweet. There was just enough bacony sweet frosting to add some punch to the cupcake. This was paired with an Alameda Papa Noel Olde Ale which went well with the cupcake because of the chocolaty notes. As much as the meal started off slowly, it picked up and ended off on a high note. Sure, there were some issues with some dishes, but for $40.00 with 5 pints of beer, there was not much to complain about - other than staggering home afterwards...
The Good:
- C'mon, for $40.00, this was a steal
- You get to meet some new friends
The Bad:
- Some proteins were dry
There we were, finishing up our meal. Along with the bill, the dreaded (not-a-real-Chinese thing) fortune cookie awaited us. One-by-one we opened our non-nonsensical fortunes, until it got to me. One crack of the crunchy cookie and *GASP*, it was empty! I had no fortune! What did it mean??? FML! Yes, that was at the end of our meal at Chengu Szechuan Bistro. Fortunately (what an ironic word...), our meal turned better than my cookie. We ended up here because our initial plans didn't work out as Guu Kobachi was more packed than a car returning from the outlet malls. They were nice enough to serve us even though we arrived at closing.
What caught our attention at first was the Peking Duck plastered all over the front door. Peking Duck? At 10:30pm after hockey? Sure, why not! For $38.00, we got a whole duck with 2 courses. The first course was the crispy skin with crepes. This was surprisingly good with an attractive colour and crispy skin. The layer of fat was not substantial while the meat was moist and soft. The crepes were a touch on the chewier side, but okay nonetheless. Now the order of Xiao Long Bao were not okay. The dumpling skin was far too thick and doughy while the meat filling was mealy and bland. We were willing to give them a pass on this one since they are not a Shanghainese restaurant. However, with Dinesty nearby, no XLB is safe.
Onto another good dish, we had the Szechuan Green Beans. Normally, this dish is more often than not prepared mild. Not here. It was spicy and really had a pop in our mouths. The beans still had a bite even though they were cooked through. There was evidence of good wok heat since the bottom of the plate was dry except for the bits of ground pork, chilis and onions. Something surprising was the spice level of the Shanghai Fried Noodles. Normally, this dish is very mild with little in the way of veggies except for cabbage. The prawns were plump with a snap while the chicken was a bit dry. The dish as a whole was in need of some salt and possibly could've done without all the vegetables as it made the noodles wet.
Lastly, the second course, being the Duck Lettuce Wrap, of the Peking Duck arrived. The stir-fried filling was pretty legit with big chunks of duck, water chestnuts and onion. The flavour was mild, yet effective while there was a good balance of crunch and meat. However, we needed more than the 6 provided lettuce cups and each additional was 50 cents (pretty steep). Despite our initial concerns about being a "fusion" restaurant, Chengdu surprised us with a well-made Peking Duck and Szechuan Beans. Sure, the XLBs were not great, but they're not a Shanghainese restaurant. There was enough here to warrant another look.
The Good:
- Surprisingly good Peking Duck
- Friendly attentive service
- Modern decor
The Bad:
- A tad pricey, but it's Downtown afterall
- It's nit-picking, but a leaf of lettuce for 50 cents?
When dealing with different cuisines, we often take the tourist approach in experiencing it. For example, it is so easy to say Sweet & Sour Pork is a Chinese dish. Yes it is (even though some thing it is purely a North American belief), but it is from Cantonese cuisine. Even worse, places like PF Chang's is often grouped into the same category. Sure, it'll make some people cringe, yet we can't assume everyone really wants "real" Chinese food anyways. Take Szechuan cuisine for instance. Many assume by adding some chilis into a dish makes it Szechuan. How about throwing in lots of chili, a handful of Szechuan peppercorns and enough chili oil to make the Exxon Valdez spill look like a puddle. At first glance, Lucky Star (formerly Capitol Hill Szechuan) didn't look promising, but hey, we had to try it to see for ourselves!
Arriving in a familiar large pot, the Szechuan Seafood Hot Pot looked legit with the aforementioned chili oil slick and Szechuan peppercorns. We asked for it to be less spicy and it was. However, there was still a pleasant heat level which is a hallmark of authentic Szechuan cuisine. The large pieces of fish were moist and flaky while the shrimp had a nice snap. I found the squid to be somewhat chewy and well, the imitation crab was imitation crab (we could've done without that). The Cumin Lamb was mildly spicy with an obvious cumin hit. The thin slices of lamb were somewhat dry, yet relatively tender. In my opinion, there was far too much filler in the form of onions and peppers though.
Although the Stir-Fried Pea Tips were prepared properly with a good amount of garlic, the tips themselves were chewy. It wasn't because they were old, rather, the stems were not cut in the right place. The result was inedible stems, much like you'd find on improperly cut asparagus. The Fish and Tofu Hot Pot was pretty good with large pieces of nicely fried fish and soft tofu. The flavours were mild. The hand-pulled Shanghainese Noodles were a highlight of the meal. The noodles had a nice bite and chewiness while there was a balanced mix of napa cabbage, spinach and julienned pork. The flavours were good too due to the caramelization from good wok heat. However, they used far too much oil which made the dish greasy. It's a catch-22 since fresh noodles stick easily without enough oil. Although not particularly awesome, the food was pretty serviceable and at the very least, authentic. Not sure how the "sweet & sour" crowd would like this type of food though...
The Good:
- Food is not North American Szechuan
- Friendly owner-lady
- Decent eats
The Bad:
- Decent, but not spectacular either
- Greasy (but we expected it to be)
- Decor is well past its prime
We are fully aware that authentic Japanese-run restaurants are a rarity in the GVRD. It gets even more scarce as we move further out into the 'burbs because there is a widely held belief that the clientele don't know any better. Now hold on there. Sure, there are still those who only do the California Roll thing, but just like with most things, people are figuring out there is more to Japanese food than a monster sushi roll with a thick layer of poorly-made sushi rice. That is why we find little gems such as Tokachi and Fuji Sushi. Now, add another one to this list in PoCo being Sushi K Kamizato (which is authentic with a modern twist). Joining me for this meal were fine Coquitlam residents Rich Guy and Rich Gal.
We started with the Asian Nachos which was an interesting dish that seemed Izakaya-ish and indeed it was that. Arriving with crisps that resembled shrimp chips, there was a bowl of cubed tuna, avocado, tomato marinaded in a sesame oil dressing with house-made salsa on the side. We were only mildly enthusiastic about this dish because the tuna mix was far too watery. When placed on the chip, the moisture degraded the experience. Otherwise, the tuna was buttery soft and the salsa was bright with some spice. Continuing on with my recent fascination with Chirashi Don, we shared an order. This was well-prepared with aesthetically-pleasing sashimi which was equally good in texture and taste. The sushi rice was very good having a chewy quality that was not gummy nor slimy. It was also well-balanced in flavour too.
We got 2 rolls for our meal with the Spicy & Shout arriving first. I think the chef happens to like the Beatles, hence the name (play on twist and shout). It consisted of spicy diced seafood with minced crab and ebi on top and tuna inside finished with sweet chips. Again, the good sushi rice was a good starting point for the roll. Despite its name, the roll was actually quite mild with some sweetness and a touch of spice. The least favourite item of our meal was the Chicken Yakisoba. Not only was it a miniscule portion for $8.95, the individual components were not that great. First, the chicken was very dry and stiff. Second, the noodles were also equally dry. Third, the whole dish was sorely lacking in flavour.
Lastly, our second roll arrived almost 20 minutes after our first roll. I guess they were really backed up with the busy restaurant. Interestingly named the Goodbye Yellow Brick Roll (and Elton John reference), it consisted of yam tempura with minced crab, ebi and mango salsa on top. It was finished off with a mango and raspberry coulis of sorts. We liked this roll the best as it had similar qualities as the first, but was accented nicely by the fruity coulis. At the end of our meal, we were pretty satisfied, if not only mildly impressed. Most of the food, especially the sushi and sashimi were well-prepared. I guess this is good and authentic for Port Coquitlam.
The Good:
- Carefully prepared sushi and sashimi
- Super nice people
- It's Japanese-run (if you care)
The Bad:
- A bit pricey
- The one cooked item we had was not very good
I gotta admit - nobody does a buffet better than the US of A. Even if we take Vegas out of the equation, there are plenty of all-you-can-stuff-your-face joints just South of the border. Now I'm not talking about quality, I'm merely amazed at the selection and quantity. That would pretty much describe the places we find in Bellingham. Further South, we find more higher end buffets in Seattle and yes, the Grand Daddy of them all in Vegas. But what about in the GVRD? Nope, nada, zilch. Other than some AYCE Japanese and Sunday brunch offerings, there are no good buffets (and really, buffets aren't the best place for great food anyways). The newest to join the fray is The Buffet at Grand Villa Casinos - not to be confused with The Buffet at the River Rock.
Juju really wanted to check out the "seafood buffet" offered from Thur-Sat. So I joined him for some gluttony at an early 3:30pm on a Saturday. Woah, were we going for some senior discount or something? No, none existed and hey, we're not that old! Even at that unholy hour, there was a lineup 20 people long. Once inside, we were shocked at how small the place was in terms of food selection and seating. Walking back to our table with a plate of food was like walking through an obstacle course with chairs, tables and people packed tightly together. As for the buffet line, there was Soup, Salads and Salad Toppings occupying the first few sections. Nothing particularly interesting... until the big pile of King Crab Legs. These were really large and meaty with varying textures of either being fluffy or a bit spongy. I thought they were on the saltier side as well. Yet, considering the venue, the crab legs were pretty good.
Moving along, the next section consisted of Veggies and one pasta. The pasta was mostly al dente with some uncooked portions. It was really bland. It was replaced with a tomato sauce version later on. Then we had a modest array of Asian Food with fried rice, fried noodles, spicy shrimp and butter chicken. The shrimp was actually decent with some spice and having a great snap. The butter chicken was a bit strange because it tasted more like curry chicken. The dark meat was tender and moist, yet the whole dish was luke warm which was off-putting. Next to it, there were 3 Meat choices including roast pork, black bean mussels and baked salmon. I can confidently say all 3 sucked. The pork was as hard as Ron Jeremy and the accompanying sauce was well... use your imagination. The mussels were rubbery while the black bean sauce was goopy and salty. The salmon was probably either chum or pink which meant it was dry and lacking in flavour. The buttery Hollandaise-like sauce on top was greasy and didn't really help save the fish. So the crab legs, shrimp dish, mussels and fish qualified this as a "seafood buffet"? Me thinks this is a bit misleading...
At the end of the buffet line, there was Roast Beef. It wasn't prime rib though which meant it wasn't exactly buttery soft. Although it was prepared a perfect medium-rare (closer to rare), it was hard to chew and wasn't all that flavourful. The accompanying gravy was starchy and lacked meatiness. Lastly, the Dessert section had to be the most pathetic one I've ever seen. It would've made Mijune cry. 4 options, that's it. At least the red velvet cake was not bad. Okay, there is not other way to say it - this buffet blows. If it weren't for the crab legs, this was no better than Uncle Willy's (but for double the price). Please do yourself a favour and spend your $25.95 at EBO on the same floor.
The Good:
- Crab legs were not bad considering everything
- Bright, modern dining space
The Bad:
- Food selection and quality sucks
- Seating arrangements are tight and hard to maneuver through
Normally, I'd rather lose my left testicle (hello Phil Kessel...) than to drive into Richmond during rush hour. However, with my parent's flight back from Hong Kong arriving later than expected, that was the scenario. No, I still have my left testicle! So to make this foray into driving hell worth it, I decided to pick up some take out. This way, I didn't have to worry about dinner and oh yeah, my parents had something to eat too (I'm such a good son...). I decided that I'd pick up a few items starting with some Hainanese Chicken from Prata-Man. Then, I'd hop on over to the Yaohan food court for some Cantonese take out. Hey, the buy 3, get 1 free deal (which works out to $6.00 per large dish) is pretty good. Trying to work my way through the many choices, I decided on Golden Rice Bowl this time around.
So I chose my four items starting with the Sweet & Sour Pork. Almost completely comprised of meat, the pork was quite lean, hence being dry and dense. I guess sitting around for awhile didn't help either. Naturally, the batter soaked up all the sauce and became wet, but that was expected. The flavours were more on the sweet side, although it was not too bad. The Stir-Fried Fish was quite moist and flaky. There was no excess liquid as the fish was lightly kissed by corn starch. The flavours were quite mild which didn't overwhelm the fish. Also, the celery and carrots in the dish retained some crunch. The Beef Tendon & Bean Curd Skin had a considerable star anise hit. Some pieces were super tender while the bigger ones were a chewy. Keep in mind this was beef with tendon in it, not just tendon.
Lastly, we had the Stir-Fried Eggplant with red peppers. It was soft as expected, but not overly mushy. We felt there was a general lack of flavour with this dish. "Okay" is probably the best description for this take out food. As one of my readers (Lotusrapper) suggested, these places are pretty much very similar in terms of food quality. Does the job for an inexpensive price.
The Good:
- Inexpensive
- The lady was friendly
- Food is okay
The Bad:
- As with any of these joints, some dishes stand up better sitting around than others
- A bit mild with the flavours
Once upon a time, I used my Blackberry Curve to take pictures of my food. I would post them on my Facebook and that was it. No blog, crappy pictures and certainly no official food adventures. Yes that was 5 years ago and life was simpler back then. With the beginning of the blog, I had visited a 24 hour Pho joint called Gold Train Express. Our visit was not exactly memorable for a number of reasons and as much as I begged Milhouse and Polka King to do a return visit, they flat-out refused. Something about a neon sign indicating there were "fresh washrooms"...
Well Gordo did not fear, nor was he there for the initial visit, so he was more than game to join me after late night hockey. We started off with an order of Pho Tai and it was pretty standard more or less. The broth was a touch weak with a hint of aromatics while the amount of noodles and meat were modest. For myself, I had the Bun Bo Hue and it seemed a bit more fulfilling in size. The broth was quite light except for the chili oil slick on top. I didn't catch much lemongrass nor spiciness, but it was decent enough considering the time of day. And no, there was no pork knuckle nor blood either.
As a side, I decided to try their Banh Mi Dac Biet and it was not that great. There was an interesting array of ingredients which looked like Dole green salad mix. The bun wasn't exactly airy nor crusty either. The conservative smear of pate didn't help things either. I'd pass on this if I were ever here again. "Meh". Nothing much to get excited about this revisit. Does the job for a 24 hour joint, but I'd probably hit up Pho Hoa instead.
The Good:
- Open 24 hours
- Lots of mirrors (if you like that)
- Interesting neon inside
The Bad:
- Food is so-so
- It wasn't like the service was bad, but the owner dude loves to give the death stare
Posts
There are those restaurants that you know about because they are either highly visible from the street and/or highly hyped by advertisements and social media. Hence, there are no surprises when someone mentions them by name during a conversation. But there are some restaurants out there that barely anyone knows about unless you live nearby. Embarrassingly enough, I've lived near The Hop & Vine Taphouse (have you heard about it???) for around 7 years and as much as I knew about it, I never dared to walk in. Honestly, from the outside, it doesn't even look like a restaurant. It took an actual invite to their Man vs. Meat Father's Day Long Table Dinner to get me into the place.
Much like the one I had at The Pumphouse, there would be 5 courses with accompanying craft beer pairings. For $40.00 plus taxes and tip, you can't get much of a better deal than that. We started with the Chopped Salad consisting of grilled sweet & spicy pork loin served on chopped salad, crispy wonton strips and ginger dressing. The flavours were nice with a sweet gingery thing going on, yet it wasn't that spicy. As for the pork, it was pretty dry. This was paired with Two Beers Evolutionary IPA which I found to be quite smooth going down. Next up was the Italian Involtini which was a free-run chicken breast stuffed with mozzarella & wrapped with prosciutto atop a Parmesan risotto. I found the chicken to be really dry even with the cheese. The prosciutto was good though with a nice chew and saltiness. As for the risotto, it was overdone and quite salty. However, the pop of the sweet peas was nice. This was paired with an Odin Freya's Gold Kolsch Style Ale which had a lemony bite.
Onto the 3rd course, we had the Sticky Asian Baby Back Ribs glazed with an Asian BBQ sauce atop Asian slaw. Unlike the previous 2 proteins, this one was done right with moist ribs which still had a wonderful chew. The BBQ sauce was a bit sweet, spicy and just a touch of savouriness. The slaw was crunchy with a noticeable sesame oil hit, but could've used more acidity. This was paired with Two Beers Forester IPA which was my personal favourite as it just had "hit-me-in-the-face" initial taste. Doing it's best Montreal smoked meat impersonation, the Braised Smoky Beef Brisket with cabbage, onions and mustard, was fantastic. It was buttery soft while maintaining a bouncy bite. Eaten with the sweet cabbage, onions and a touch of mustard, it was a party in my mouth. This was paired with an Odin's Gift Ruby Ale. I found it to be full-bodied with some fruity notes.
Finally, for dessert, we had a Chocolate Cupcake with maple bacon frosting. For a taphouse, I gotta give them props for making one moist cupcake. It wasn't particularly chocolaty (despite the colour) while being only semi-sweet. There was just enough bacony sweet frosting to add some punch to the cupcake. This was paired with an Alameda Papa Noel Olde Ale which went well with the cupcake because of the chocolaty notes. As much as the meal started off slowly, it picked up and ended off on a high note. Sure, there were some issues with some dishes, but for $40.00 with 5 pints of beer, there was not much to complain about - other than staggering home afterwards...
